Register with pivoted vanes



Feb. 16, 1937.

J. D. M KNIGHT REGISTER WITH PIVOTED VANES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov.50, 1952 ATTORNEY Feb. 16, 1937. J. D. M KNlGHT REGISTER WITH PIVOTEDVANES 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed NOV. 30, 1932 2A N v INVENTOR ATTORNEYPatented F eb. 16, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to registers of the type adapted to control theflow of air for ventilating, heating or air conditioning interiors ofbuildings.

An object of the invention is to devise an improved register of thischaracter which is capable of accurately and positively controlling airpassing therethrough. This is made possible by providing for expansionof the air as it passes through the register, particularly where theregister is employed for supplying air. The im proved register, capableof accomplishing the result, is compact, simple to construct, easy tooperate, and sturdy and durable in service. Another object is to providesuch a register which shall be quiet mechanically as well as free fromwhistling. A feature of the invention resides in the provision in such aregister of simple and efficient operating mechanism. A further featureis the provision of accurate, positive flow control means in a registerof shallow depth and in such a way as to permit full flow through alarge percentage of the cross-sectional area when the register is wideopen.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in connection with thefollowing detailed description of one illustrative embodiment of theinvention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a vertical section, partly broken away, taken on the line I|of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing one formof register constructed in accordance with the invention, the grillebeing shown in dot and. dash lines.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the register shown in Fig. 1,taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and showing the register with the vanesopen, the vanes being also shown in broken outline in partially closedposition.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1, looking inthe direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the central portion of the construction asshown in Fig. 2, but with the vanes closed, and

Fig. 5 is a partial vertical section, taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1,looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings there is shown at ID a box-shaped frameconstruction including upper and lower Walls H and I2 and side walls I3and Hi, all preferably formed of sheet metal, though other suitablematerials might be employed, the frame being open at the front and back.The walls of the frame may be joined adjacent their edges in anyconvenient manner (not shown) and may have suitable reenforcing beads orribs or flanges (also not shown). The walls H and 52 may be providedwith offset portions i5 and 56, respectively, spaced outwardly from themembers H and [2, providing shoulders ii and I 8 adapted to receivesuitable bolts or posts 19 for securing the grille 20 to the box-shapedframe. The side members I3 and i4 may be provided with extended portions2i terminating adjacent the portions and I9, and thus closing the sidesof the box. In this manner, as best shown in Fig. 5, the securing meansl9 may engage the marginal portion of the grille 29 without closing offany of the grille openings 22, and the main walls of the frame it may besubstantially aligned with the upper and lower edges of the openings 22in the grille. This permits employment of an attractive grille and atthe same time provides for eflicient use of the openings in the grille.Furthermore, the space between the portion l3 and the grille serves tohouse operating mechanism for the vanes or louvres, as will behereinafter described in more detail.

Extending between the members H and I2 at points intermediate the sidewalls l3 and 14 there are preferably provided partitions 26 which maysuitably be formed with re-enforcing beads 25 and may be secured to saidmembers II and I2 by bent extensions 27, formed integral with orotherwise secured to the partitions, and bolts, rivets or the like as at28. Angle members 29 may be aligned with the partitions 26 and securedas by rivets 39 to the wall members [3 and M. It will be understood thatthe members 29 could be formed as flanges integral with walls l3 and M,or even be omitted, these walls possibly being formed with curvedportions, if desired, conforming to and closely adjacent the vanes.Similarly, the shape of members 26 may be varied.

A plurality of vanes 35, preferably curved on the arc of a circle may beadvantageously employed for cooperating with the partitions 26 and anglemembers 29 to close the register. These vanes are preferably pivoted attheir upper and lower ends about their centers of curvature upon means,such as are hereinafter described, carried by the walls ii and ii. Thevanes should be of such extent that when closed they will abut againstone another and will extend to and contact the edges of the partitions26 and angle irons 29, thus cutting off the flow of air through theregister. Depending upon the width of the register, an appropriatenumber of pair of vanes or louvres 35 may be employed, the vanes in eachpair preferably being adapted to rotate in opposite directions toward oraway from the face of the register to control the flow of air whichenters or leaves the same. While the proportions and radius of the vanesmay vary considerably, certain considerations make it desirable thatthey extend over an arc of a little more than 60 or one sixth of acircle, and preferably less than a quadrant. In this manner, anefficient use is made of available space, without requiring undue depthof the box shaped frame ID. At the same time, the ends of the vanesadjacent the face of the register do not interfere with the desired flowof air when the vanes are fully or partly open. Vanes of this typeactually require less space than those heretofore commonly in use, whileat the same time they provide an effective and efficient control of theair. In a typical structure the vanes may be spaced apart on two inchcenters and the overall thickness or depth of the register may be keptwithin two or two and a half inches.

The vanes are preferably provided at their upper and lower ends withradial arms 35, 37 having bent end portions 38 (Fig. 3) secured to thevanes, as at 39, in any convenient manner. The arms 35, 31 may beprovided at their ends opposite the vanes 35 with suitable openings forreceiving pivot pins 40, both arms for a given pair of vanes beingpivoted on the same pin, and the ends of arms 31 being offset as at M inFig. 1, to overlie the ends of arms 3%. The pivot pins 453 may besuitably secured to the members i l and i2, as shown in Fig. 3, orotherwise. The vanes 35, at their inner ends, may have suitable flanges43 for engaging the edges of the partitions 35 and angle members 29, tolimit the movement of the vanes into open position, and for abuttingagainst one another when the vanes are closed, thus preventing the edgesof the vanes from becoming overlapped and wedged together.

For operating the vanes 35, mechanism of the character about to bedescribed may be employed to advantage. In the pocket 45 (Fig. 3)provided by the portions and E8 of the wall l2, there may be located atransverse bar 43, preferably of channel form and provided with a blockwithin the channel threaded onto a screw member 47 one end 48 of whichextends through the shoulder portion iii of the frame 10 and is securedagainst longitudinal movement as by a pin 55, but is free to rotate. Theforward end of member 41 extends into an opening in the grille to apoint substan tially flush with the the outer face of the same and isprovided with a square recess 5! or other convenient means forengagement by a key. The ends of the bar 46 may be supported and alignedby the posts or bolts I9 which have a smooth outer surface and extendthrough the bar, being held in place by screws 52 which extend throughthe grille and are threaded into the posts 99. These posts and theirscrews having heads 53 countersunk in the grille thus serve the doublepurpose of securing the grille to the box and guiding the bar 46.Pivotally connected adjacent their ends to the bar 45 and tointermediate points of the several radial arms 36, 37, by suitable studsor pins 54, 55, respectively, are links 56. One of these links isprovided for each vane.

In order to adjust the device it is merely necessary to turn the screwmember 41' in the proper direction to move the bar 46 inwardly from itsposition in Fig. 2 toward its position in Fig. 4,

to close the vanes, and oppositely to open them. It will be apparentthat movement of the bar 46 toward and from the register face will beimparted to the vanes through the links 53. Obviously a variety of othermechanisms might be employed for rocking the vanes in unison upon theturning of a screw or similar operating member.

While the present construction is particularly advantageous for exhaustwork in connection with ventilating systems, by virtue of the fact thatit saves almost one third of the usual depth required in constructionsof this character, it is also advantageous for the inlet or supply endof such a system. It is ordinarily particularly necessary or desirableto economize in the space required by the depth of the register onexhaust lines but this advantage of the present construction is alsohelpful on supply lines as well. The construction of the vanes and theirrelation to the members and 29 provides, in an excellent way, a seriesof compression and expansion chambers on the two sides of the vanes.When the louvres or vanes are only partly open, as shown in brokenoutline in Fig. 2, the air coming from the duct, for example, will bepocketed between adjacent vanes, the ends of the pockets being blockedolT by the members 25. At the ends of the register similar pockets areformed by the end vanes and the members 29. As the result of theformation of these pockets the air coming from the fan will build up acertain amount of pressure at the back of the register and a definitelyregulated amount will be permitted to pass through the openings betweenopposed vanes and expand into the chamber adjacent the register face.There results, therefore, positive control of the flow of air and aneven distribution of the air at the register face. When the vanes arefull open, as shown in full lines in Figure 2, the register ofiers verylittle obstruction to the free passage of air. Less than 25% of the areaof the register is blocked off. At the same time, the construction isparticularly quiet both mechanically due to avoidance of rattling byvirtue of the construction and operation of the vanes, and also from thestandpoint of whistling of the air as it passes through the register andof the transmission of fan noises. While the construction is such thatlittle or no rattling would be apt to 4 occur in any case, it will beseen that when the vanes are partly closed, for instance, as shown bythe dot and dash lines in Fig. 2, the air in back of the register beingunder pressure will force the vanes toward the front and thus take upany loose play. Any minor fluctuations in the pressure will have noeffect since there will always be sufficient pressure on the vanes tohold them in fixed position. Through the even distribution of the airand the possibility of exact adjustment of the flow through theregister, the necessity for control dampers in other portions of thesystem, as well as for elbow diffusers, is virtually eliminated. An airconditioning system embodying these registers may be readily balanced bythe simple use of anemometers for determining the amount of air flowingthrough each register, for with the present construction there is notonly provided a positive control at each register but accuracy of theair flow measurements is facilitated, due to the fact that high velocityjets of air at certain points across the register face are avoided.

Certain features described to some extent in the present application arenot claimed herein inasmuch as they are covered in my copendingapplication, Serial No. 435,076 filed March 12, 1930.

While several specific embodiments of the invention have been disclosedin considerable detail, it will be understood that these areillustrative only and that numerous changes may be made in the specificdetails of construction and the arrangement of the parts withoutdeparting from the general principles and scope of the invention. Theterms and expressions used herein are for purposes of description andare not intended to impose any unnecessary limitations upon theinvention.

I claim:

1. In a register construction including a boxshaped frame open at eitherend, spaced members extending between opposed walls of said frame,curved vanes extending parallel to said members and cooperatingtherewith to close said frame, certain of said vanes being movable intodirect engagement with each other, means to pivot the vanes at eitherend thereof upon said walls and at points offset from the curvedsurfaces of the vanes, and operating mechanism adapted to simultaneouslyshift some of the vanes clockwise and others counter-clockwise to openand close the register, said operating mechanism being also adapted tolock said vanes in any position.

2. In a register construction including a boxshaped frame open at eitherend, spaced members extending between opposed walls of said frame,curved vanes extending parallel to said members and cooperatingtherewith to close said frame, certain of said vanes being movable intodirect engagement with each other, means to pivot the vanes, andoperating mechanism adapter to open and close the vanes in unison, saidmechanism comprising a member adapted to shift in a directionperpendicular to the face of the frame and links operatively connectedto said vanes.

3. In a register construction including a boxshaped frame open at eitherend, spaced members extending between opposed walls of said frame,curved vanes extending parallel to said members and cooperatingtherewith to close said conduit, said vanes being arranged in oppositelycurved pairs, means to pivot the vanes about their centers of curvature,and operating mechanism adapted to shift the vanes simultaneously toopen and close the register, the vanes forming a smooth continuous arewhen closed.

4. In a register construction including a boxshaped frame open at eitherend, one of the walls of said frame forming an inwardly facing recessadjacent one end thereof extending substantially the entire length ofsaid wall, spaced members extending between opposed walls of said frame,curved vanes extending parallel to said members and cooperatingtherewith to close said frame, means to pivot the vanes, and operatingmechanism adapted to open and close the vanes, said mechanism comprisinga member Within said recess and adapted to slide therein, in a planesubstantially perpendicular to the axis of the pivots of said vanes.

5. In a register, a plurality of pairs of oppositely curved vanes, eachof said vanes extending over an arc of about a sixth of a circle, meansto pivot said vanes about their centers of curvature, and meanscomprising a member shiftable perpendicular to the face of the registerto move the vanes of each pair in opposite angular directions eithertoward or away from the face of the register.

6. In a register, a frame, a plurality of pairs of pivoted, fiow controlvanes, said vanes of each pair having a common pivot and being curved inan arc about said pivot and adapted to abut each other to close apassage between them, means for simultaneously rocking said vanes ofeach pair in opposite directions about said pivot to vary the distancebetween their adjacent edges, and means separating and closing the spacebetween the pairs of vanes, said means being spaced rearwardly from theface of the register and providing a chamber in communication with allof the vanes in rear of the register face.

JAMES D. MCKNIGHT.

